Snake hung up and scooped the keycard off the surface of the main floor and made his descent down the steel stairs that lay dormant behind the big guarded door. 

When Snake approached the base of the stairs, he readied his tranquilizer gun at an open hallway filled with adjacent cabin rooms adorned on each side of the hall. One by one, Snake ventured and snuck into every room towards the end of the hall, making sure to be prepared to tranq any target he saw. Each room was most of the same: a guard knocked out, and their inventory ransacked. As Snake left the final room, the door he entered opened up as a guard groggily stumbled downstairs.

“Oh man, oh man! I gotta tell Black Mask Batman’s here!” mumbled the guard, his once pristine suit now decorated with his own blood and grime from the metal shavings he laid asleep in from Batman’s assault. As the guard made his way towards the end of the hall, Snake surprised him by sneaking behind him and deploying his gun on the guard’s neck.

“Talk! Where is Ocelot?” Snake demanded.

The guard, still catching his breath from his awoken state, spoke in hushed sharp tones, “The new guy working with the boss? He’s down here with him in the pit. Who are you?”

“Someone after him. What’s the Batman? Is he working for your Black Mask?”

The guard let out a chuckle. “The Bat working for Sionis?! You must not be from around here; Batman doesn’t work with nobody unless they got a cape! You planning on stopping the Batman AND Sionis? What boss do you work for that has you doing the impossible?”

“I’m not here for your boss or the Batman. I’m only here to capture or eliminate Ocelot.”

“Let me go, and I’ll open the door towards the pit and make it easier for you then.”

Snake went into his mind to search the possibilities: if he allows him to help, he can make a direct line to Ocelot and finish what he came to do. If he doesn’t, he’s left to explore lengthier options that could place Ocelot further and further into his diabolical plan. Snake chose the former option for assistance.

“Okay, move.” order Snake.

Snake directed the guard from gunpoint to a nearby server room that acted as the primary network hub for the ship’s security system. Snake felt the room shift in heat as they enclosed on the terminal as the guard began to key in commands onto the computer terminal. Snake watched along with him, looking for any trickery in his command keys. As the guard was about to confirm a computer directive, what looked like an oblong piece of metal flew in front of Snake’s face and hit the guard on the side of his head, knocking him out. Snake turned around with his tranquilizer gun, ready to meet face to face with the Dark Knight himself.

“Are you working for Amanda Waller?” gnashed Batman, his shoulders in a relaxed state while Snake kept the gun pointed at him.

“I’m not working for anyone.”

“Then why are you looking to eliminate Ocelot?”

Snake didn’t trust the vigilante. He wasn’t sure if Batman himself was working for any other units of his own or if what he did was just of his own volition. He kept his motives hidden for now.

“That doesn’t concern you. He’s just a dangerous man I need to take care of”

“I’m not convinced. Whatever operation is happening here, I’ll be the one to stop it.”

Just then, Otacon chimed into Snake’s codec.

“Snake, he’s been scanning you from the moment he saw you! His computing system has been picking up-”

Batman’s head perked up.

“You’re name is Snake. That sounds like a Waller operative.”

Batman flung himself at Snake.

Snake shot a tranq dart into Batman’s head, but his cowl deflected it as he grabbed Snake, and judo flipped him into the nearby steel wall, knocking over a corkboard that was posted.

“Snake! Are you okay? Snake? Snaaaaake??”

“Otacon, I’m okay. Calm down.”

“I have a synopsis of recorded footage from his brawls in Gotham City. He has expert-level knowledge of an ancient martial art style. Be careful; he’s a master of close-quarters combat.”

“So am I. CQC it is, then.”